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African states say more work needed to reduce maternal deaths

Kyodo News InternationalJune 1, 2013 06:17
Pregnancy and childbirth-related death rates remain high in African countries and more efforts are needed to spread family planning and girls' education, African leaders and a United Nations organization said Saturday. Speaking at an event in Yokohama, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said current progress toward reducing the rates "is just simply inadequate" to meet the U.N. target of reducing the maternal death ratio by three quarters globally between 1990 and 2015.

At Cannes, pain and loss of migration come to the fore

Agence France-PresseMay 24, 2013 09:15
They set off with dreams of a new life only to find that peril, exploitation, loneliness and an aching rootlessness often await them. Migration, one of the great issues of globalisation but one that until now has been poorly explored at the movies, has emerged as a major theme at the Cannes Film Festival. A frontrunner for the coveted Palme d'Or on Sunday is "Tian Zhu Ding", a brutal portrayal of peasants who head to the cities for work in the capitalist-communist China of today.

Swiss take a step to unlocking mystery of ageing

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 11:43
Swiss researchers said Wednesday that they had taken a step closer to unlocking the mystery of ageing after discovering the impact of a longevity gene in mice and then managing to extend the life-span of worms by 60 percent thanks to a basic antibiotic treatment. "They were not only living longer, but were also more fit," said Johan Auwerx ion a video released by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), a cutting-edge Swiss research institute. The findings of Auwerx's team have been published in the scientific journal Nature.

Report finds Gen Xers lost almost half their wealth in recession, questions retirement savings

The Canadian PressMay 17, 2013 18:00
NEW YORK, N.Y. - A research report by the Pew Charitable Trusts says younger baby boomers and Generation Xers face an uncertain retirement because of reduced savings, high levels of debt, and losses during the Great Recession.

New fitness centers cater to aging baby boomers

May 13, 2013 13:45
By Dorene Internicola NEW YORK (Reuters) - Baby boomers, the generation that vowed to stay forever young, are getting older, designing senior-friendly gyms and becoming their own personal trainers. In exercise havens for the over-50 set, the cardio machines are typically low impact, the resistance training is mainly air-powered and some group fitness classes are taken sitting down. At Welcyon gyms, founded by husband-and-wife boomers Suzy and Tom Boerboom, the average age of members is 62.

Report: Chinese director investigated for allegedly fathering 7 kids despite 1-child policy

The Canadian PressMay 9, 2013 04:45
BEIJING, China - Authorities are investigating whether one of China's top film directors has fathered seven children in violation of the country's strict family planning laws, state media and a local official said Thursday. Media reports circulated online this week that Zhang Yimou, who is also known as the architect of the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics, has seven children from his two marriages and from relationships with two other women.

Compare voluntary survey with mandatory census at own risk: Statcan

The Canadian PressMay 8, 2013 09:40
OTTAWA - The first pack of data from 2011's National Household Survey comes with the census equivalent of a Surgeon General's warning: make any historical comparisons at your own risk. Slapped across the back pages of most of the Statistics Canada documents released Wednesday is a disclaimer that the voluntary National Household Survey is an altogether different beast than the now-scrapped mandatory long-form census.

Canada has second-highest rate of first-day infant deaths in industrialized world: report

The Canadian PressMay 7, 2013 22:40
TORONTO, ONTARIO, - Babies born in Canada have a surprisingly high likelihood of dying on the day of their birth, a new study suggested Tuesday. A report from international aid organization Save the Children assessed infant mortality data from 176 countries worldwide, focusing specifically on how many newborns are able to survive beyond their first day out of the womb. The report said Canada had the second-highest rate of first-day infant mortality in the industrialized world, with roughly 900 babies _ or 2.4 per 1,000 births _ ending in early tragedy.

Insight - Ageing deepens debt-laden Europe's economic woes

April 24, 2013 03:16
By Alan Wheatley, Global Economics Correspondent RIGA/LISBON (Reuters) - Long after the debt crisis is over, Europe will be grappling with an even more serious problem - how to pay for growing numbers of old people. The population of some countries is stagnant or already shrinking, notably Germany's. That will reduce savings and potential economic growth. The workers who remain are getting older and so are less productive. That will hold back living standards.

Baby boomers'economic participation hits record

April 11, 2013 05:17
The rate of economic participation among baby boomers is currently 73.8 percent, the highest since 2000, data showed Tuesday.However, the data released by Statistics Korea raises concern that the percentage of the country’s economically active population will drop sharply when the baby boomers, born between 1955 and 1963, reach the retirement age of 60.The economic participation rate refers to the ratio of both employed and unemployed who can work and produce output among people aged 15 and older.Korea’s baby boombers constitute the bulk of the population in their 50s.
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